Life-preserver.



L. FARR.

LIFE PRESERVER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7. l9l8.

INVENTOR Patented Dec. 24, 1918.

2 m IX ATTORNEY i To all whom it may concern:

LEWIS FARR, or EL PORTAL, OALIFORNiA.

LiFE-PRES RVER.

Be it known that I, LEWIS FARR, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at El Portal, in the county of Mariposa and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life-Preservers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to life preservers, and the obj ectthereof is to provide a simply constructed buoyant device for supporting a person n the top of the water and for supplying air or. oxygen for emergency use in case the wearer is submerged by undertow or other causes.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise'embodiment, of

the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention,

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a front elevation partly in section of a life preserver constructed in accordance with this invention, parts being broken out for convenience in illustration. r

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a section taken at right angles to that shown in Fig.- 2 taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1. p

In the embodiment illustrated, the preserver constituting this invention is composed of a plurality of closed cylinders 1,

any desired number of which may be employed, six being here shown. These cyl-' inders are mounted on two spaced belts 2 and 3 having suitable means at their opposite ends for connecting them around the-- waist of the user. These cylinders are preferably constructed of rubber, rubber cloth or other suitable air tight fabric and are connected midway their ends by tubes 4 preferably made integral therewith. EX-

tending transversely of each cylinder is v a pipe'section 5, the ends of.wh1ch pro]ect into the tubes 4. at pposite sides of the cylinder as shown clearly in Fig. 1, and each of said pipe sections 5 has an opening 6 therein to afford communication with the in-' terior of the cylinder. An air supply valve Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2a, was.

Application filed June 7, 1918. Serial No. 238,722.

7 is arranged at the end of the tube of the outermost cylinder as shown at the right of Fig. 1 and is designed for filling the cylinders by means of a pump such as is used n inflating pneumatic tires and the like. These cylinders 1 are designed to contain air or oxygen under pressure, said cylinders being preferably chargedto, about one-hundred pounds pressure, and the belt formed thereby is designed to be secured around the Waist of the user in the ordinary manner of a life preserver and operates not only'as a buoyant device for supporting the weight of the user but as a container for supplying air to the wearer when occasion demands as will be presently described.

Mounted adjacent each other on the belts 2 and 3 is a pressure reducing cylinder 8 and an exhalation chamber or cylinder 9, said cylinders being of substantially the same size as the cylinders 1. These cylinders 8 and 9 have screw threaded plugs 10 and '10 for closing one end thereof, said plugs being shown threaded into the cylinderls which are made of any suitable materia. I

This reducing cylinder 8 has a pressure reducing valve 11 mounted therein and a pipe 12 leading therefrom and equipped with a stop cock 13 for tu'rningon and cuttingofi' air from the cylinder 8.

I Mounted in the cylinder 8 are two compression chambers 29 which are rigidly con nected with valve 11 and with the threaded stem 30 and are united by a tubular coupling ,31, all being'suppo rted in the screw plug 10.

Th compression chambers 29 are composed of diaphragms 32 with concave faces facing each other. While two of these chambers only are shown, it is to be understood that any desired number may be employed.

The valve 11 is composed of a tube with openings 33 and 33 spaced longitudinally from each other andclosed by a plug 34, at

.its lower end. An L-shaped coupling or sleeve 35 is engaged with the tube 11 which "slides in said sleeve and fits sufficiently close to prevent the leakage of air between the opening 33 will register in groove 36 permitting the incoming air entering through tube to pass into the groove 36 and thencethrough the hole or aperture 33 into tube sure in cylinder 8.

11 and up through opening 33 in said tube into the cylinder 8. When the pressure'in cylinder 8 is raised to a predetermined point, t e compression chambers 29 are compressed and the tube 11 is therebyraised upward whereby the hole 83 is placed out of regthe air supply from tube 5.

To regulate the air pressure in cylinder 8 to any pressure desired, all that is necessary is to screw the tubular member 30 in or out thereby increasing or diminishing the presister with the groove 36 thereby cutting off From Fig. 1 of the drawings, and the description? it will be obvious that when the pressure in cylinder 8 isincreased it W111 compress the compression chambers 29 together and thereby shorten the valve stem 11 so that the aperture .33 will be placed out of register with the groove 36 .to cut ofi' theair supply from tube 5. When the air pressure in cylinder 8 is reduced, the compress on chambers 29 Will expand thereby forcing valve stem 11 down and allowing the air to again enter the cylinder through tube 5.

The pipe 12 leads to a mouth plece 15 here shown in the form of a plate'16 having anextension' 17 on its inner face, said extension having two longitudinally disposed bores 18 and 19which communicate at their outer ends, one with the pipe 12 and the other with a pipe 14 which opens through the closure 10 of the exhalation cylinder 9.-

sition.

Arranged within the cylinder 9 is an exhaust pump 22, \the plunger-rod of which extends out through the closure 10 and is equipped with a hand grip 23. This pump may be of any suitable or desired construction, and as her shown comprises a cylinder 24 having one end mounted in the closure 10 and depends into the cylinder 9 having an inwardly opening valve 25 at its lower end.

.A piston 26 operates on this cylinder 24 and is provided w'ith the usual piston rod 27 on the outer end of which is mounted a bandle 23.

A valve 28 is mounted in the pipe 14 adjacent the mouth piece, and opens outwardly permitting air to pass out from the pipe to the atmosphere and preventing the inlet of any air *or water into the pipe.

In the use of this apparatus, thecyhnders 1 having first been charged with oxygen or air, the belt is attached to the waist of the user, and if he finds that h is going to be drawn underwater, the mouth plece 15 which has preferably been placed in operative position, when the preserver is attached around the waist, has the extension 17 thereof grasped'firml'y between his teeth, and .at the same time, the stop cock 13 is opened, which will permit air or oxygen to pass through the flexibl tube 12 to the mouth piece .16 and into the lungs of the user. Ex.-

halation takes place through valve 28in the pipe 14 as long as the pressure of-the water on the outslde does not prevent the openmg of the valve. In case the water .pressure is sufficiently great as to prevent the open-- ing of this valve 28 the air exhaled by the user will pass through the flexible tube 14 into the cylinder 9 and the user must operate the pump 22 to keep the pressure in cylinder 9 down to a comfortable breathing pressure.

A nose clamp must be used in connection with this device, and may be of any desired or suitable construction to prevent water entering the nostrils. The use of such a clamp will force the wearer to breathe through the mouth. I

The cylinders 1 may be of any suitable or desired size, preferably about three or four inches in diameter by eight inches in length,

and a number of these cylinders would of course afford considerable buoyancy and insure the support ofthe wearer. i

The pressure regulating valve ll'must be 'suflicient-ly sensitive to retain the air at constant pressure, which pressure must be determined by 'experimen The foregoing description and the drawings have reference to what may be 'considered the preferred or approved form of my invention. It is to be understood that I may make such changes in construction and arrangement and combination of parts, materials', dimensions, etc., as-may prove expedient and fall within the soopeof the claimed invention.

. Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is p 1. In an apparatus of the class described,

an air container, a mouth piece, tubes leading from said mouth piece, an exhaust valve in one of sand tubes and a cut-off valve in the other, a pressure reducing cylinder communicating with said container and with one connected with th other tube.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a lurality of parallel spaced belts, air containers carried thereby, tubes connecting said containers, a mouthpiece, tubes leading therefrom, an exhaust valve in -one of said tubes and a cut off valve in the other, a

.of said tubes,"and a pump carrying cylinder 7 pressure reducing cylinder communicating with one of said containers, and with one of said tubes, anda pump-carrying cylinder connected with the other tube.

3. A life preserver comprising an air container, a mouth-piece, a plate having a projection extending at right angles therefrom and provided with longitudinal bores, tubes communicating with said bores, an exhaust 10 valve in ne of said tubes and a cut off valve in the other, a chamber communicating With the tube having the exhaust valve, a suction pump for said chamber, and an air supply connected with the other tube.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature 15 in presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS FARR. W'itnesses:

C. A. DAvIs, A. B. BOKER. 

